I have a Good Feeling about Riding Today…
No this title isn’t about my own feelings, but are the last words Jay says before something bad happens within a 5hr timeframe. How do I know this, because it’s happened twice so far.
Good Feeling #1
It’s a Sunday afternoon, and it’s actually a nice day to ride, so Jay and I decide to go for a ride and get the “Two Wheel Society” stickers. Hector is off doing something but can’t ride for some reason and Jerry is off working. So it’s me and jay for the 1st half off the day
We ride out to George’s, in east mesa and try and convince him to come with us, and to change my oil, but there’s something wrong with his bike, and we determine that Jay definitely needs a new back tire. I call Q up and he happens to be at the shop, with a spare set of race tires, he’s selling off, so since jay doesn’t have the whole thing and I really want to go ride, I throw in for half, and discuss where we’ll be riding to, at this point in time Jay mentions the phrase that is soon becoming his epitome to ending his riding day unexpectedly, ”I have a good feeling about riding today!” all while Q mounts and balances the new tires. We also decide to give John a call to see what he’s was up to, and the meet up with him,
20 minutes later we’re on our way to the mall and have setup a time to meet John over in Tempe. Meanwhile Jay keeps saying how much he likes the new tires, and the new windscreen he put on. So we roll to Chandler Mall who has nothing, for stickers and end up going to Az Mills, and getting them done, $40 later we’re on our way to meet John with new stickers mounted and gleaming and of course jay saying again “ I have a really good feeling about riding today”.
We get to the spot where we’re meeting John a few minutes later and decide to down Mill Ave and then Galvin Parkway a few times and finally to go back towards mesa and meet with one of John friends and then riding some more, and as we leave Jay again says “I have a good feeling about riding today”.
Needless to say less than 45min later, turning onto some residential street. John turns left somewhat abruptly, Jay is close behind, as I trail Jay, we’re all well under the speed limit, but not slow enough to prevent the inevitable, his front tire clips the rear brakes assembly on Johns Raven. John veers to the right, Jay to the left, almost under control but chaos assumes the situation. Jay’s GSXR1, turns left, but jerks right tossing Jay, diagonally over the handlebars, like a bucking bronco. Fighting to remain in control of the bike, inertia of the jolt, forces him to let go after his knees clear the tank as the bike slams down hard on the right, and bounce back towards the left but forward momentum, carries it enough to force it to start to roll right again and then topple end of end twice and then finally to a stop, as I See jay lying face down in the middle of the street motionless.
Jay was alright, only a few bruises, but the GSXR1 was not going to be running anytime soon. I always thought it was ironic that the accident happened after he had his feeling of having a good ride all that day.
Good Feeling #2
Jump ahead 2 months later; Super Bowl Sunday, George gets his bike up and running again and we plan a cruise with a bunch of the cars. I meet up with George, Hector, and Jays at George’s house early in the day. Quickly fix a chain issue with my Juggernaut ZX7R (it was about to snap due to some object being caught up and run through). Jay then says the fateful words again “I have a good feeling about riding today”.
The 3 of us rode the 202 south to chandler and met up with some others to watch the game, I overheard him say the phrase again and then it hit me, that he had said it all before. I told him to stop saying it and why but he was having nothing of it. I told him of my “White Owl” omens, and the event that soon occurred after seeing it.
So we head over the Dobson and Guadalupe to meet with some other riders and cruiser sand plan a route going through Scottsdale and then hitting the 51. Jay, Hector, jerry, and myself, try and stick together, and I keep trying to keep Jay in front of me, incase something happens I can stop, and at least one person behind me for the same reason ( ZX7R’s been having issues lately). As we approach the 51 on ramp form the north 202, I can hear jay on George’s YZR with no exhaust creepy over the resonating echoes of my D and D exhaust, and then it’s was gone.
I had been trying to get closer to jerry’s SV, to see how well he was taking the corner when I noticed it was a lot quieter than it should have been. I slowed down to about 20 and waited to see Jay and Hectors headlights, but they never came, since the 51/20 interchange has no major roads over it I had to go down a ways and get back on going north and taking the 2002 south again and then reversing and coming back over . On my way I passed by a speeding LEO with light gleaming, after I turned to the 202 again he was gone, and finally reversing again to go back the same way I had gone originally I could see the hazards in front of me just prior to the apex of the turn with the YZF being loaded into the back of a truck.
Turns out George removing the exhaust to make the bike louder also left the midsection of the frame to take the brunt of the vibrations which led to the screw holding the gear shifter in place to vibrate itself out over the course of 80 miles that day, which of course led to no more riding that day for Jay.